Educational blog articles around inbound marketing.

How to Network, Prospect, and Grow Your Business Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best social media platforms to use if you're looking to grow your business. When people log on to LinkedIn, they are specifically there for business purposes.

Unlike Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, LinkedIn is based on your business track record, connections, education and colleague referrals.

If you're looking to grow your business using LinkedIn, there are a few steps to remember so that you can experience success.

Fix Your Profile

First impressions are certainly lasting impressions. Even though it may seem shallow to some, looks really do matter. They matter, especially when you're dealing with the digital world.

Knowing this, it's important to put your best foot forward. In order to make this happen, there are a few things you'll want to consider doing. Hire a professional photographer and get a bright, clear head shot.

Keep in mind that your profile picture should reflect your business style and perspective. The picture of a tax auditor will likely look a little different from that of a music producer.

Fill out all the sections of the profile, including your name, title, business name and experience. Include a clear description of what you do and why your business exists in the marketplace.

Create an Ideal List of Prospects

As a business owner, you should already know who your target audience is. Once you know who the audience is comprised of, create a list of companies and people that are most likely to use your services.

Once you've reached out to family, friends and colleagues to connect, it's time to branch out even more. Whether it's once a day or once a week, become consistent with sending connect requests to people on your list of prospects.

Once you develop a LinkedIn connection, they'll automatically become a part of your audience. This step alone will give you a better chance of garnering their business.

If you're a beauty writer and want to reach more clients, make a list of beauty brands you'd like to work with. Create a list of at least 75 to 100 brands. Put the company name in the search bar.

Then, take a look at all the people who are currently employed by the beauty company. Reach out to people within the sales, marketing and creative teams to see how you can get your work in front of their desks.

Engage With Your Audience

Most people log on to LinkedIn with the intent of seeing how their own profiles are doing. They look to see who liked their posts and who engaged with them.

However, it's important to turn around and do the same with others. Too often, professionals are looking to receive on social media platforms without taking action. Engage with your audience by posting open-ended questions, responding to comments, and engaging in discussion.

Become genuinely interested in other people and their brands. Comment on their posts with meaningful commentary. Congratulate others when they get a new job, celebrate a work anniversary or celebrate a birthday.

The more consistently you engage in these ways, the more likely your audience will do the same. Keep in mind that this process takes time, but be consistent with it.

To start developing a schedule, carve out even 15 minutes every day to comment, like and engage with your audience online.

Start a LinkedIn Blog

A LinkedIn blog is one of the most dynamic ways to grow your audience on social media. While the online blogosphere might be a crowded space, this isn't the case with LinkedIn blogs.

There are a variety of specific categories that are deemed the most popular within LinkedIn. As long as your blog post fits into the context of your industry and resonates with your audience, it'll do well on this platform.

Head over to your LinkedIn news feed and click the option that allows you to write an article. Make sure to add a captivating picture to attract more readers to your work.

Maintain a specific schedule for your work. To help maintain readership, try to stick to a weekly schedule. If you have a difficult time staying consistent, try to plan your content out ahead of time.

Place a reminder in your phone to allow you to post it consistently and remember to engage with those who comment on your post.

It doesn't have to be a long article. Short-form content that contains valuable information can still get a point across.

Try to stay in the area of your expertise and always leave a call-to-action at the end of each post. Your call-to-action should lead your readers to taking a next step.

When you continue to do this on a regular basis, more people will engage and share your content with their audience. In this case, readers can turn into customers.

Offer Accolades and Recommendations

LinkedIn has this glorious feature that allows people to endorse one another. Make it a habit of endorsing people authentically.

If you have a former co-worker who is excellent at public speaking, endorse them. You can endorse people for a variety of skills on a consistent basis.

The more people see that you've endorsed them, the more likely they are to endorse you and boost your profile.

When new connects go to your page and discovered that a lot of people have recommended you in various areas, they're more likely to trust your credibility and work ethic. This type of social validation will go a long way in helping you gain a positive reputation on LinkedIn.

Closing

Overall, LinkedIn is an excellent opportunity for any business owner to promote the growth the of their company. It's important to remember that consistency is key.

It's hard to maintain engagement with your audience if you post sporadically. Do your best to schedule your content and connections in advance.

If social media marketing isn't one of your strengths, consider hiring a team to manage your social media presence for you.

With consistency, you'll begin to see LinkedIn connections turn into engaged audience members. After that, it's only a matter of time before you begin adding qualified leads to your email lists and grow your business.

I hope you found this information beneficial and feel free to comment down below any thoughts or questions you may have.

ZioSolutions is an Inbound Marketing, Website Design, and Sales Enablement Agency. Founded in 2015 by Zachary Raineri and Geoff King, ZioSolutions is proud to be located in St. Louis, Missouri and active in helping others achieve marketing and sales success.